Acer Spin5 not recognizing battery/ only works on AC

rchow

Hi, I've had my Spin5 for about three years now. Recently, randomly, it won't recognize the battery. Sometimes it will and it'll charge normally, but other times it won't turn on unless plugged in. While it's plugged in, sometimes it'll randomly lock itself and shut down. If I turn the laptop on the side, the orange light (that usually indicates charging) will blink a couple times. I took it to a repair shop but the guy told me to buy another battery, though I don't think it's a battery issue, I think it might be internal. Thank you in advance for any guidance.  

billsey

Well, the battery *is* internal. If you open it up you can look at the the connector that the battery wiring connects to on the motherboard. If there's a little corrosion there then seating it and reseating it might wipe that off to give a clean contact. Look for any evidence of bulging on the battery, that can be an indication it's in the process of failing. While you have it disconnected with the power also disconnected, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds or so to bleed off any residual energy, then when you put it back together connect the charger and wait for a full charge indication before turning it back on. That will help if the battery is just confused as to what's going on. Finally try a Windows battery recalibration a few times. Disconnect power and run it until Windows shuts down due to low power then plug it in and wait for full charge to happen, then turn it back on and repeat. It typically gets the numbers nice and settled with two or three times through.

rchow

billsey said:

Well, the battery *is* internal. If you open it up you can look at the the connector that the battery wiring connects to on the motherboard. If there's a little corrosion there then seating it and reseating it might wipe that off to give a clean contact. Look for any evidence of bulging on the battery, that can be an indication it's in the process of failing. While you have it disconnected with the power also disconnected, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds or so to bleed off any residual energy, then when you put it back together connect the charger and wait for a full charge indication before turning it back on. That will help if the battery is just confused as to what's going on. Finally try a Windows battery recalibration a few times. Disconnect power and run it until Windows shuts down due to low power then plug it in and wait for full charge to happen, then turn it back on and repeat. It typically gets the numbers nice and settled with two or three times through.

Thanks for this, I appreciate the steps! I did as suggested, there might be some bulging on the battery as you indicated. Tried the other steps and it didn't work, so ordered a new battery and hoping that'll clear up the issue. Will try again when my order comes in!

billsey

Let us know how it comes out.